LEBANON: PRESIDENT ELIAS HRAWI GIVEN 3 MORE YEARS IN OFFICE

Описание: (19 Oct 1995) Arabic/Nat

The Lebanese Parliament has given pro Syrian President Elias Hrawi an unprecedented three more years in office to oversee peace negotiations with Israel and Lebanon's post-war reconstruction.

The extension had been widely expected after President Hafez Assad of Syria, the undisputed power in Lebanon, decreed last week that he wanted his close ally, a 68-year-old Maronite Catholic, to stay on as head of state.

Hrawi was elected on November 24, 1989, two days after his predecessor, Rene Mouawad, was assassinated with 31 aides and guards in a car-bomb ambush in Beirut after only 17 days in office.

His objectives were clearly defined by the deputies present in Parliament.

SOUNDBITE:(Arabic)
"Everything was decided (the extension of the president's term of office), what we want now is to rearrange the social situation, the management situation, and all the problems we were suffering before."
SUPERCAPTION: Deputy Pierre Helou

Besides social and economic policies, foreign policy is clearly also on the agenda.

SOUNDBITE:(Arabic)
"We said it before during the session, first of all we hope that south Lebanon will be soon free of all foreign armed troops, and the arrangement of the social and living situations will be much improved"
SUPERCAPTION: Deputy Adnan Traboulsi

There is however widespread opposition to the decision - including from the President's own community, the Maronite Christians.

Opponents branded the extension a threat to democracy in a country struggling to rise from the ashes of the war.

Anti-Syrian leaders in exile denounced the vote as an unwarranted violation of Lebanon's sovereignty by Syria, which has some 40,000 troops controlling most of the country.

A protest was banned by the Government. However, Assad's decision to back Hrawi ensured a parliamentary majority well in excess of the two-thirds needed to amend the constitution.

Legislators voted 111-10 to amend Article 49 of Lebanon's constitution and provide for the one-time extension five weeks before Hrawi's six-year term expires.

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